One rule for one........
 

I had occaision to visit a relative in Blackburn Royal Infirmary the other day, as one does, and as it happened I was there at the time the evening meal was being served.

I have heard a great many complaints regarding the quality of hospital cooking and have even been on the receiving end of quite a few of the most inedible meals it has ever been my misfortune to encounter. The service I witnessed at BRI did not disappoint. It was bland to the point of tastlessness, unimaginative, unappetising and cold. All of which is perhaps bad enough. But, the thing which truly horrified me is the way in which it was served. It was delivered to the ward in a stainless steel trolly which held approximately three dozen trays. The trolly was neither insulated nor heated and the doors were left wide open with the food exposed for over an hour while nurses passed by with bedpans and soiled dressings and visitors pushed their way past it too.

If I were to open a restaurant and serve food to my customers in the same manner, The Environmental Health Inspector would, not only close me down but would also ensure that I was summoned to appear before the Magistrates.

How is it that the one institution that really should know better, can openly flout food hygeine regulations on a daily basis and get away with it? And how is it that the health fascists who inhabit these places are so determined to take the splinter out of the eyes of others but are incapable of taking the plank out of their own?

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I always thought BRI was bad until I came across a place that made BRI look acceptable. Stirling Royal makes some of the cooking my mother in law look like the restaurant food. It is to put a a polite name to it muck cant type what its like. Theres more taste in cardboard and after getting a glimps of the so called kitchen I am not suprised. They say they have a fixed budget and a lot of patients to feed with a wide varied set of diets both medical and non medical. Yet bigger hospitals manage so is it down to the changes in hospitals. BRI is closing slowly and SRI is supposed to be the hospital for my area yet Falkirk Royal is years ahead yet because Stirling is now a "city" it is getting preferance.

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A-B, the food is delivered to outside teh wards in insulated heated trolleys, its then transferred to the 'serving trolleys for distribution round the ward. As for quality etc, when I was in for my appendix I thought it was fair, not exciting etc but not 'bad'

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Last time I was in hospital was at Queens Park when I had Zack so over four years ago. Everyone complained that the food was bland but I didn't think it was too bad. One of the reasons why everyone found it bland was because they don't use salt in the cooking at the hospital. Salt is incredibly bad for you so it's only right that they don't use it. I don't use salt in cooking because of a potential hereditary illness which could be compounded by salt. If you don't use salt then you don't miss it in food so other flavours come out and things aren't bland.

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I used to go to Blackburn Infirmary when I was a young child to have my eyes checked out. I remember following a yellow line until it was my turn to approach the machine where I had to make two rabbits into one!

The worst thing about my stay, whilst having the op, was that they gave me a teddy and then took it back again. I don't remember being fed but I do remember getting nits........my Nana was disgusted!

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I dont use salt at all yet still found it bland.

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Oh well my sons very fussy as they will find out when my son will be holidaying there in a couple of years for his op :eek: hopefully bland will be good enough or i'll be requested to smuggle in - hey least the cheeky sod wont complain about my cooking after then :D

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Once upon a time, food was served by the nurses as soon as it hit the ward. Incapacitated patients were helped to eat their food by a nurse or auxillary. The food has never been brilliant, but it was edible and wholesome. I remember looking forward to meal times, as helping someone elderly, confused or unable to handle a knife and fork meant that I could have a sit down......

Due to the NHS having too many generals and not enough foot soldiers, nurses are now incapable of delivering the meals on time. There's simply not enough of us around on the wards to feed people any more. Those of us that have stuck it out are bogged down with endless excessive paperwork which falls from the adminisphere in order to make it look like we are meeting targets.

It does not surprise me that people complain. Believe me, food is not the worst thing that folk gripe about. Being kicked out of hospital before you have made a full recovery because some other poor soul needs your bed is much worse........and happens on a daily basis throughout the country.

Being transferred all over the North West because your local hospital has no NICU cots left, or even worse......has a cot, but no staff (a frequent occurrence), is much worse.

Nurses and midwives leaving in droves because they are brassed off, but they are never replaced....... We have lost 4 full time experienced midwives to Australia and New Zealand in the last 12 months. Trusts claim that they haven't the money to replace these people, but they can appoint a new manager to oversee yet another government target, and no doubt on a fat cat salary with protected pay.

The food may be bad in hospital but people are lucky to be getting food. They're certainly not getting care....

I do believe that most people think that QPH food is better than BRI..;)

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A sweeping sythe is need in hospitals to rid them of useless desk jockeys who's first concern is targets not patients. When premeture babies lives are at risk and people treated like cattle due to targets then in my eyes the NHS has failed.

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I don't know why folk complain it's free, it's the NHS. It would cost a fortune if it was all private.. and if were aren't careful it will be all private.
I remember the doctor's man calling at our house for the money every week. So much per person in the family. and having to pay for everything ie medicines, hospitals, doctors. Come on now, do we want those days back again. No we do not We have the finest health service in the world., and as far as doctors and nurses go.. It costs a fortune to train them,, and then what do they do, go abroad for better money. Well, if it were up to me, they would have to stay in this country for at least ten years, To help pay back what it cost to train them.

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Would you stay in a job when for more money you could do the same job elsewere? Even the most dedicated proffesionals have a limit as to how much crud they take and the way things are more will follow. A large proportion proberly have student debt that needs paid as they had the loans to get their education in the first place and need a better salary in order to pay them back and have a half decent lifestyle and shorter hours.

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I have to agree that when it comes to the NHS people will complain about anything. I have to disagree that nurses and midwives go abroad for better cash. All of the people that I work with that have gone abroad recently have put 10 years or more into the NHS. Some of them are not actually getting more cash but better working conditions, giving more care and doing less paperwork. I have to say that their reports of their new working lives are very appealing compared to working in the NHS here. I don't blame them for a second for getting off their collective arses and finding themselves better lives.

I love that the NHS is free, but I can forsee a day when it won't be. Too many people come to this country and take advantage. Denmark had a similar system but imposed new rules a few years ago. Basically the Danes are not allowed to marry outside of their own country until they reach the age of 24. If they do marry someone living abroad, they are not allowed to bring that person into the country until they are 24. According to a Danish colleague of mine, this has drastically reduced the number of young spouses coming into the country, falling pregnant and taking advantage of their maternity and child welfare services. Maybe it's high time for a review in the system of who is, and who is not entitled to NHS care..

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How do you work out that it is free. We are paying for it in tax. It would be interesting to know how much of my monthly tax bill goes on the NHS. I wonder what sort of private heathcare I could get for the same amount (or less) for my family.

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My private health care is through work so I am ok but it is expensive even for just a single adult.

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Errr........it's not funded by pennies from heaven. We do all pay for it, through taxation and national insurance.

As Lettie said nurses and auxilaries can no longer provide the care they once did. My Aunt was in the said hospital, plus QP and the Royal Infirmary in Manchester last year. Even though my Aunt was incapable of eating, food was dropped on the table at the end of the bed, then duly collected untouched with the comment 'not hungry today?'

You have to feel sorry for the poor souls without friend or family. Who makes sure they are getting the subsistance they need?

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[quote=garinda] Even though my Aunt was incapable of eating, food was dropped on the table at the end of the bed, then duly collected untouched with the comment 'not hungry today?'

quote]that is awfal ,,did you complain....they should make time for those patients that cant cope!

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Nailed it between the eyes there Willow.

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A-B......the plates of food are supposed to be covered......metal covers for hot food and plastic covers for salads.
The amount of money that is allocated per meal and per patient is ludicrously small. So it must be a hard job to make meals that are interesting enough to tempt the palate of a poorly patient.

Lettie is right about nurses feeding patients.....it was the only chance you got of having time to take the weight off your legs.
Nursing cadets used to help with the feeding of patients who couldn't feed themselves too.
I am greatly saddened by the decline in standards in the NHS.....it seems that the nurses who train today want to do all the technical stuff, but don't want to do the 'personal stuff'......and to be honest you found out more about patients worries when you were doing the personal stuff. I'm glad I'm out of it.

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As far as Queens Park is concerned the food leaves the kitchens in an edible condition if you can get over the cooking without ANY salt bit. Just as a small aside. The human body NEEDS salt and without it you DIE. OK! I accept that we have got used to using too much salt over the years but to remove it completely is absolute madness especially for manual workers who strain their muscles in their job and sweat. In fact we all sweat to some degree or other even when asleep in bed so we lose salt and other minerals that must be replaced.

What makes the food just about inedible is the time that it stays in the heated trolleys outside the wards slowly drying out. The last time I was a guest of the NHS, some 4 years ago now, our food trolley would arrive an hour before the meals were due to be served. Goodness knows how long the trolley was in the kitchens waiting to be collected. The only decent food was the soup, what little there was of it.

I know that with hundreds of meals to make someone has to be first and someone has to be last but surely the various wards could stagger their actual meal times to coincide with the trolley arriving and not leave it in the passageway waiting until it was time to serve the meals.

Edible food is as much a part of the treatment as pills and potions etc.

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The hospital does not use salt in cooking but always provides salt and pepper in sachets which come with your meal. You are more than welcome to add salt to your own food (and it does make it taste better). The problem with staggering meal times for when the food is ready is that some people may get their lunch as early as 11am. Their tea may not arrive until 5pm or later. For someone like me, who eats little and often, a 6 hour wait for tea would be unbearable.

Times of meals are also timed to correspond to ward routines. It is impractical to have the meal trolley on a ward with a busy theatre list running. There would not be enough space to manoeuvre the theatre trolley bearing a recovering patient around the food trolleys. In an ideal world people would be able to eat what they want, when they want whilst in hospital. Unfortunately it is far from ideal but there is no quick fix solution.

Over the years I have become used to hospital food. Bear in mind that the staff get the same meals in the dining room as the patients get on the ward. We often don't get lunches until about 1.30pm. It is warmed up and dried up by then (that's if we manage a break at all). My solution is to douse it in salt and chuck a bit of gravy on it.....

I have to admit that the worst food I've ever had was Butlins in Skegness during the 1970's............:D :D

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I agree with the Skeggy comment Lettie! As for NHS meals when I was in QPH having Ellie I thought the meals were quite good, I dont add salt so wouldn't need it anyway and Lettie is quite right you get a sachet with your meal unless you're on a recommended salt free diet. I work at BRI and quite enjoy the meals in the canteen, which are the same that are served up to the patients, the cheese pie is the best I've ever tasted.

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Sounds a bit like the grub we got at the stop and rest up fielding lane.. stop whining!

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Aaaah....... BRI and QPH cheese pie... It's lovely, well worth going into hospital for. Tastes delicious with baked beans and gives you the worst heartburn and gas you'll ever have but is totally worth the discomfort..:D

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Hospitals may supply a salt and pepper sachet now lettie but four years ago they didn’t. I had to get my son to bring me my salt seller from home and ketchup and they got passed around the ward at meal times much to the chagrin of the sister in charge. Between us we supplied our own condiments.

Don’t talk to me about the state of the humble cup of tea that they served out. Some clown would leave the tea bags in the kettle and by the time that the nurse got half way round the ward it was like treacle. No one seemed to have the gumption to brew the tea to a nice strength and remove the tea bags. But I’ll tell you what if you happened to be passing the ward kitchen whilst the tea was being brewed the chatter was invariably about some TV programme that the pair had seen or intended to watch.

You can add as much salt as you like onto cooked food but it will not taste the same as when it has been cooked with a sprinkling of salt. In fact if the right amount of salt is used during cooking the finished meal does not need any more.

You are just making excuses for what is happening lettie. Why can’t someone stand up and instead of saying it can’t be done because ….. for once just say “let us see how we can improve things.”

Oh! I get it. Ward routines are more important than a decent meal so patients have to put up with mashed potatoes with a hard crust of dried mash on the outside to mention just one aspect of meals being kept ‘hot’ until eaten. Sorry but that doesn’t wash with me. If one of the many managers pulled their finger out and started to do some real work for a change instead of wandering round with handful of documents in their hand looking important they could organise things so that the patient gets to eat a meal less than 15 minutes after it has been prepared. Let’s face it if it wasn’t for the patients there would be no need for multiple layers of self important managers. Hospitals are split up into wings or floors so what would be so difficult about arranging that floor “A” gets their meals at certain times and floor “B” at different times etc. Oh! I forgot, that level of organisation would impinge on the many regular natters about last night’s Corrie or East Enders or whatever and that would never do.

If a patient requires small but frequent meals or snacks like you then s/he should be provided with them.

But it isn’t only managers who spend more time talking about the job than doing it. Many nurses do exactly the same.

The last time that I was in with a severe kidney infection I was prescribed some powerful antibiotics and they did the trick OK. But they also killed off all the good bacteria in my gut and that left thrush to run riot. It took me three days of mentioning to the ward staff sister or whatever it is that they call them that I had developed a case of severe thrush before she actually did anything about it. I guess it must have been the badly swollen neck and face that finally caught her eye.

Then a couple of days later and old fellow in a bed across from me called George wanted a bottle. He rang and rang and rang and then I rang and eventually a nurse of some sort rushed into the ward to see who was ringing. George, poor soul, was over 80 and there were times when he wasn’t quite with us and at other times he was as lucid as you or me. I explained to the nurse that George wanted a bottle. To my amazement she replied, “He’ll have to wait we are in the middle of a meeting” and rushed out leaving George with no option but to wet the bed. To add insult to injury when the ‘meeting’ was finally over some half an hour later he was scolded for wetting the bed and he ended up with having a catherta inserted. Not very pleasant although you do get used to after a day or two. I’ve been passed the office on many an occasion and the discussions wasn’t about patient care but chit chat. Most times it was more like a hen party than a patient care meeting.

On a previous occasion when clotty blood worked its way to my lungs an old fellow of about 75 was brought in from an old folks home having suddenly lost the power of speech. The way that all the nurses spoke to him was astounding. He was treated like an imbecile rather than an old guy who suddenly couldn’t talk. I could hardly believe my eyes or ears.

After that degrading episode the guy was almost in tears.

I asked him, “Can you understand what I am saying?” He nodded yes.

“You just can’t speak?” He nodded again and tears streamed down his face because someone wasn’t treating him like an old fool.

Some of the other guys on the ward came over and joined in to try and make the guy as welcome as you can do in a hospital and you could see from his face that all someone had to do was to ask the right questions.

We put this forward to the ward staff sister and got back a very frosty, “you should leave the nursing to the nurses.”

Many of the nurses or sisters as they are known now were indeed angels of mercy but far too many just couldn’t care less and couldn’t wait for going home time. That has been my experience of hospitals and the next time that I am forced into hospital I hope that I am unconscious and at death’s door.